Shatter (all your glass castles of illusion)
by TheLadyMuse
Summary: It is a bit of a shock to realize that the monster on your team bows to someone greater. OR Nijimura Shuuzou is the Basketball God and his adoring disciples are called the Generation of Miracles- and then there are those who are recognized by them, or could have been Miracles themselves. Prequel/Part 1 of Team Japan


Monsters. To the last man- even their Phantom- the Generation of Miracles are Monsters. Emperor, Titan, Shooter, Ace, Copy cat, Phantom- not one will bow, break, or surrender. Even the pink pixie is unlikely to simply give in.

Everyone knows this. From the meek shooting guard of Touou to the stern Seiho captain. Haizaki Shougo is not one to be rattled, and when the appellation of Monster is also applied to him, it is often in the literal sense. And yet, after the Kiseki no Sedai acknowledge that he could have been their seventh man, he is still a Monster.

Kagami Taiga, too, is considered a Miracle Monster, unstoppable by all but his equals. His brother Tatsuya is considered on par with the Uncrowned Kings, both boys tenacious, yet they are not so… Unapproachably monstrous.

Everyone and anyone who has played the Generation of Miracles- even the could-have-been-but-wasn't, Haizaki- admit they do not bow.

And yet….

Yet.

The moment Nijimura Shuuzou walks onto the court, just after Seirin has been handed the Winter Cup, all but seven boys freeze. Kise Ryouta alarms his fans and school mates when he fights past the pain to limp to the fallen power forward, dropping to his knees meekly at the older boys' feet. One by one, Aomine dragging Haizaki, the Generation of Miracles, even Akashi Seijuurou, drop down beside Kise, waiting.

Nijimura's face is frozen. His upper lip curls, and he pronounces

"I've seen every game." Murasakibara's nostrils flare, Haizaki flinches, Aomine whines, Akashi ducks his head down further still, Kuroko stares unblinking into the eyes of his former captain, Midorima and Kise gasp as they draw back.

While the Generation of Miracles awaits Nijimura's next words, the teams watch in awe. For, if their member will bow to this man, kneel at his feet…

Even Monsters bow to Gods. That is what they believe, taking this in.

Nijimura's arms are crossed, his scowl is fierce, and his foot taps on the floor. No one dares step forward when the Generation of Miracles have been cowed by simply being around him. In the end, no one but the Generation hears what he says, disapproval and approval fluidly ghosting over his face depending on who he is scolding or praising by turn. Finally, he uncrosses his arms to scoop Akashi into a crushing hug, eventually working through all seven boys, though Murasakibara remains kneeling so his former sempai can also tuck his head under his chin.

Haizaki and Aomine hoist Kise between them, the blond chattering a mile a minute before they deposit him next to Kasamatsu. Haizaki bends down to squeeze Kise, before Aomine chides

"Back to your team, Shou-chan." Haizaki flips him the bird as Kise giggles, Aomine whirling away to jog back to Momoi, grabbing her into a hug and spinning her around as he whooped

"He's back!" Satsuki giggles, shrieking for 'Dai-chan' to put her down.

Over with Seirin, Kuroko impassively nods to his team, accepting the goodbye fist bump from Akashi before the redhead continued on to his team, who receive him with open shock.

Murasakibara lumbers over to the Yousen players, grumbling about 'Mura-chin'.

Midorima strides over to the Shuutoku players, snapping at Takao before turning on his heel.

Tatsuya is too stunned to greet his friend, especially after Atsushi grumbles

"Aka-chin wants us to play with Mura-chin again."

Over at Fukuda Sougou, Haizaki shifts uneasily, but they all let it slide.

After the Cup, however, in the changerooms, their teams corner the Generation of Miracles.

Kasamatsu simply asks with a scowl

"Who was that, Kise?" Ryouta smiles, a real smile that reaches his eyes.

"Nijimura Shuuzoucchi, our captain before Akashicchi. We're going to spend Winter Break together at Akashicchi's place in Tokyo! I can't wait, Sempai! He's really amazing! Haizaki even promised to behave because Nijimuracchi would beat him up!" Whistling, the blond limps as fast as he can, shrieking joyfully (and rather unmanfully) when Kuroko came over to commend his performance.

Later (much, much later, it is nearly graduation), Nijimura makes the rounds of the schools, studies his 'brats' at practice. Before running in and grabbing their ball, executing the fast drive he'd used in Teikou without flaw, dribbling into the layup easily. Each time, he spins around, grin on his face and challenge in his eyes, the Miracle (or Not-Miracle) in question meeting him stride for stride.

In the Spring of his third year, despite not playing the League, he still makes his way to the various practices, the 'God of Basketball' warmly welcomed, especially when he came to Touou to challenge Aomine.

Once, he dragged Taiga to Akita, playing alongside Atsushi against the unlikely pair of brothers.

Another time, he drags newly returned Kiyoshi to Rakuzan, having pestered Tatsuya into making the trip with Atsushi, and the more honorable Uncrowned Kings play a five-on-five with the Generation of Miracles, Haizaki having been reformed through a combination of Nijimura's tough love and the guidance of the slowly reforming Aomine and Murasakibara, though Akashi's own help assists greatly.

Although it is great that basketball has reformed such people as Haizaki and Aomine, and they all strive to bring their teams up to their level, no one can forget the argument that had been overheard at that first Winter Cup.

I won't use my pen to bore you with the details, but the gist of it is this: Akashi and the rest of the Generation, even Haizaki to a degree, had wished to know where Nijimura was attending, Kise suggesting the eight of them take three championships the right way under Nijimura's leadership, to which Akashi had, shockingly enough, agreed to eagerly.

It had broken the hearts of their teammates, to be ignored like this, even Midorima, Murasakibara and Kuroko had expressed an interest, while Haizaki hadn't fought the idea at all.

It had been Nijimura who had gently reminded them that they had committed to their new teams, and then he had revealed he wasn't going to play in the high school league. It was Aomine who brashly promised that he would make sure Nijimura had the chance to play for the National team. Kuroko interjected that, by that logic, Kagami, Himuro and the Uncrowned Kings would also be playing with them.

Akashi replied

"Good. Then we'll have reliable teammates at our backs." Haizaki scoffed, but quieted when Nijimura firmly informed him that he could either change his ways or expect weekly beatings. Kuroko and Kise both assented that being less of and asshole, not more, would benefit him.

Of course, by the time the game against Jabberwock came along, no one was surprised that Haizaki and Nijimura had taken front row seats to the chaos.

 **A/N: Please email me with prompts! All fandoms I write for (or, challenge to enter a new one). Also, check out the fan blog on my profile, if you please.**

 **A/N: sequel up. Called 'Team Japan: (We'll) Rock (the World)**


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